But do they eat pudding?

Brokeback Mountain is a western/love story set in 1961 Wyoming about two homosexual cowboys who fall in love. The movie spans 20 years and deals with the difficulties, including violence, that the lovers face. I have not seen this movie and I have no plans to. It might be a very good movie, well written and acted, but it just isn't my kind of flick. It is, in fact, a chick flick - only without a chick. This is why it will not be a commercial success.

Sure it opened well, making more money per screen at its debut than any other indie in history, but this is because it opened on only five screens three in New York City and one each in Los Angles and San Francisco (all three homosexual meccas - why didn't they also show it at the Fine Arts here in Asheville). It has now gone into wider release (69 screens) and some think it could make it into genuine hit status.

This aint going to happen. Think about it. The only parents who are going to take their kids to see this thing are Heather's two mommies. It will not be a date movie because guys only take their girlfriends/wives to chick flicks because they either get nagged into it or because they are hoping to get laid later that night. Guys are not going go to a movie about two other men who sleep together as a prelude to sex and women are not going to fight with their dates to see a love story that doesn't have a character that they can identify with. Guys will not go with other guys the way they do with action/adventure or porn and and girls wont go with other girls because, again, there's nobody that they can really identify with.

Also straight women are almost as turned off by the sight of two men making out as straight men are. It may be a well done movie, in fact is probably is, but it just doesn't have real appeal to anybody out of the homosexual community.

Out of the cold and dark

Lemuel spent yesterday sitting in the cold and dark. The ice storm that hit the southeast left me without power for most of the day. Also, my computer was online when the power went off and this fried my modem (I live out in country dial-up hell). I replaced the modem this morning after the power came back on and got back online

All I have to say is thank God for electric power and all the other blessings of modern technological society. We don't know how much we need and depend on them until they are taken away from us for a while. Get down on your knees and give thanks for the fact that you live in a country with political freedom and capitalist economics which allow us to provide so many good things to ourselves and the rest of the world. Things like satellite television and transplant surgery and flush toilets and clean drinking water piped right into our houses.

I'll stop now. If I go on I'll have written Ben Stein's next AmSpec column for him.

Yet Another Thing to Like About Narnia

The Last thing that we see the children, having grown to adulthood, do in Narnia is go hunting.

Tookie Dies

At around 12:35 AM (That's 3:35 AM in real time) Tookie Williams went before the Judge before whom we must all stand in our time. If Tookie was sincere in his Christian conversion then he is glad to be where he is and he is glad that the just sentence of the court was carried out. If (as everyone except Mike Farrell suspects) his "conversion" was nothing more than a cynical ploy to gain support for a commutation then he is even now paying for that sin along with all his others.

More Thoughts on Narnia - Spoilers

Disney deserves credit for not whimping out and making Narnia politically correct. When the children meet Father Christmas he gives them weapons and when the Lion does combat with the Witch he tears out her throat.

Narnia

I just got back from seeing Narnia. An excellent picture all around. It had the best CGI that I've ever seen. It took me some time to realise that the beavers weren't actually there.

Benedict Arnold and the Murtha Test

In 1775 when word of the Battle of Lexington reached New Haven Benedict Arnold, the captain of the governor's guards, assembled his men and offered to lead them to Boston. When the selectmen refused to supply ammunition Arnold threatened to break into the magazine. Thus began a military career in the service of the young American republic which saw Arnold participate in the capture of Ticonderoga, and the siege of Quebec. Perhaps the high point was his command of an American fleet in battle with the British near Valcour Island in Lake Champlain. American forces were seriously outnumbered and defeated by the British, but their fierce resistance stopped the advance of British Gen. Carleton, who withdrew to winter in Montreal. This freed up 3000 US troops to reinforce Gen. Washington who was them able to win victories at Trenton and Princeton. During the course of his service Gen. Arnold twice received serious wounds. During the years that the Revolutionary War dragged on Arnold became convinced that the Colonies could not win against the might of the British Empire. He conceived a plot to place the US in a position in which would be forced to realize that the war was lost and negotiate with the British. In his plan he would be the negotiator and restore America to the British Empire, with certain concessions from the British. To carry out his plan he sought the command of West Point from his friend Gen. Washington in order that he might surrender it to the British. His plot was exposed and he fled to the British where he received a commission as a brigadier general. To this day his very name is synonymous with the word traitor.

Like Benedict Arnold Jack Murtha has worn his country's uniform and served with heroism. Murtha left college to join the Korean War and later served in Viet Nam. He receive two Purple Hearts, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and a Bronze Star for valor. He now serves as a congressional representative from Pennsylvania. Also, like Arnold, Murtha believes that his nation is involved in a war which it cannot win and , like Arnold, Murtha is willing to commit an act of betrayal to do something about it.

The difference between the worlds of Benedict Arnold and Jack Murtha is that in Arnold's day no one attempted to defend Arnold by claiming that one had to have served in combat like Arnold did in order to earn the right to condemn his actions. Even the Tories, Americans who favored the British cause, did not indignantly attack the character of any non-veteran Patriot who called Arnold a traitor. The reason for this, in my view, is that the Tories honestly believed in their cause. Because their consciences were clear they had no psychological need to project unworthy motives onto those with whom they disagreed.

Modern liberals have placed themselves in a position in which they must hope for defeat in Iraq. They must hope that the robust housing market is in fact a "bubble" which will burst and ruin hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans. In fact they must hope for a general economic downturn which will leave millions jobless, homeless and on the dole. They know, in their hearts of hearts, that they are wrong. They know, on some level, that they are a cancer eating at the vitals of the United States. In order for them to rise practically everything else must fall. In order for them to succeed America must be awash in racism, sexism, poverty and hopelessness. Iraq must descend into a bloody civil war that ends with a Taliban style theocracy or Baath Party fascist dictatorship. Therefore anything that indicates that the US is doing well economically or socially or winning the war must be attacked as some kind of enemy propaganda.

This is not a position that any sane political party should seek to find itself. Yet this is exactly the position in which the Democrat Party finds itself. This is a function of an unclear conscience. They are about power and power alone. The "Murtha Test" in which we are told that only decorated veterans have the right to tell the truth about "Cut'N'Run" Murtha's plan to surrender in Iraq is just the latest symptom. They are not right and they know that they are not right so they cannot afford to debate the merits of their position. They must instead attempt to disqualify their critics in a kind of preemptive strike so that they never have to deal with the substance of their arguments.

This should be reassuring to Americans who genuinely love their country and want the best for it. If we were not winning the war in Iraq the Left would not be so desperate to get us out. If things were really as bad there as the Democrat Party and its Ministry of Propaganda and Enlightenment (otherwise known as the mainstream media) want us to believe that they are they would be working to see that we stayed so that we could suffer the kind of crushing defeat that would kill Republican chances in ''06 and '08.

Still More Serenity News

There is an effort to bring back Firefly/Serenity as a direct to DVD series. The DVD's would be available by subscription. The episodes would possibably also air on Sci-Fi as well. Then about 3-4 months later they would go on sale to the general public. This sounds like a good idea to me. If you agree link to this site and sign up.

Also, I just got my Serenity soundtrack CD. Very good.

No Surface

Surface will be back in January so no review tonight.

Keep Jethro, Girl Genius and Opie in your thoughts, they need all the help they can get.

EUro Decay

I finally had the leisure to open the latest issue of City Journal today. As usual the first thing I sought out was Theodore Dalrymple's back page column, The London Diarist. Dr. Dalrymple is explaining to a correspondent of a liberal Dutch newspaper why he chose to move from England to France. His answer?

I said that I thought France was a decade or two behind Britain in cultural
decline. It had maintained certain standards a little better than Britain -
though, I added, I could see that it was heading in the same direction.

This is amusing because the lead time in magazine publishing means that Dr. Dalrymple's discussion with the Dutch reporter had to have happened before the recent, and still ongoing, French intafada. I wonder if the sight of Muslimm youth rampaging through the streets, burning cars (and elderly women on at least one occasion) has caused the good doctor to rethink his opinion.

More on the Serenity Sequel

News of the Serenity sequel continues to spread, ign.com is now reporting the possibility of a TV movie to be aired on the Sci-Fi channel. Firefly and Serenity News adds that the MOW would be in conjunction with the broadcast airing of Serenity in 2008.

I stress again how important DVD sales are to making this happen.

More on the Christmas Wars

Over at NRO Jonah Goldberg has a piece about the secular left's attempt to purge any trace of Christmas out of the public square and the religious right's reaction to it. He believes that:

". . .Conservatives should be wary of launching a backlash. Just as it is counterproductive for a secular liberal to take offense at a well-intentioned
"Merry Christmas," it doesn't help if a conservative says "Merry Christmas" when
he really means "Eat yuletide, you atheistic bastard!" If you're putting up a christmas tree in order to tick off the ACLU, you've really missed the point."

Mr. Goldberg makes a valid point. If the only thing that Christmas means to you is a chance to give the finger to the left then you have missed the point (of what Christmas means) and missed it badly. However there is another issue at stake. The principal that a very large majority of people should not have to do a cultural "cut and paste" job on their society just to please a tiny minority who are suffering no harm whatsoever. The only damage being done to the anti-Christmas fanatics is the brusing their egos get by having their complete irrevelance to the greater culture ground into their faces this time of year. Every carol and crèche only reinforce how badly out of step they are with the society in which they live. So, rather than doing the adult thing and coming to grips with the fact that most people think differently than them, they throw a tantrum and demand that everyone else conform to their idea of how things ought to be.

In this context doing something like saying "Merry Christmas" or putting up a Christmas tree to "tick off the ACLU" makes perfect sense. There is a legend that when the Germans occupied Denmark during WWII they ordered the Danish Jews to wear the yellow star. The story goes on to say that King Christian X then put on a yellow star and explained that since all Danes were equal what was done to one was done to all. Other gentile Danes were then said to have sewed the yellow star onto their cloths as well. So many that it became useless as a way of setting Jews apart. The Nazis were then said to have recended the order. In like manner we can say NO to the tyrants of our age. Say "Merry Christmas" and put up a tree. Buy your tree from a store which identifies them as "Christmas Trees" rather than "Holliday Trees". The Bible promises us that if we resist the Devil he will flee from us. I seriously doubt that the ACLU has more courage than Satan.

A Correction

When I quoted Mother Calhoon yesterday she wasn't too pleased with the way I phrased it. It seems that it was a bit too "past tense" for her tastes. So by way of clarification Mother Calhoon wants everyone to know that she still says that a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while and she intends to go on saying it for many years to come.

Also, I should have pointed out that Mr. Boyd was the 1000th execution since the Supreme Court pulled its head out of its neathers and admitted that it had royally screwed the pooch (that's technical legal jargon) by ruling that capital punishment was unconstitutional.

Serenity News!

In an interview with MoviesOnline Joss Whedon discuses Serenity and says that the DVD sales will play a big part in whether there is a future for the franchise.

And brollywood.net has a rumor, which they stress is a bit of industry gossip only, that there will be a Serenity MOW on the Sci-Fi channel. Apparently Universal doesn't think that Serenity's box office take was enough to justify another theatrical release, however it was good enough to make for a very successful cable MOW.

All this depends upon the DVD sales. They are moving along well, the pre-order is #30 on amazon.com's DVD chart right now, but the better it does the greater the chances of more Serenity. If you have any interest in seeing the franchise continue then click the box to the left and order a DVD or two or three. They will make great gifts.

NC Gets One Right

North Carolina's current state government is pretty vile, but like Mother Calhoon used to say, even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while. Kenneth Lee Boyd was put to death in the North Carolina state prison this morning. Mr. Boyd Murdered his estranged wife and her father back in 1988. An article about the execution can be found at here. Here is an excerpt:

Boyd, 57, did not deny that he shot and killed Julie Curry Boyd, 36, and her father, 57-year-old Thomas Dillard Curry. Family members said Boyd stalked his estranged wife after they separated following 13 stormy years of marriage and once sent a son to her house with a bullet and a threatening note.

During the 1988 slayings, Boyd's son Christopher was pinned under his mother's body as Boyd unloaded a .357-caliber Magnum into her. The boy pushed his way under a bed to escape the barrage. Another son grabbed the pistol while Boyd tried to reload.

Kenneth Smith, Boyd's son from a previous marriage had this to say, "He made one mistake and now it's costing him his life". Would Mr. Smith feel the same way if he had been the son trapped under his dead mother's body?

The Finest Restaurants in the Nation

Are in New Orleans and most of them were hit hard by Katrina.

There's a piece in LA Times about how many of the restaurants in New Orleans are finding it hard to repair and reopen after Katrina. The article focuses on the restaurants of the Brennan family, especially Brennan's and Commander's Palace. The Brennan's definitely plan to reopen, but they suffered extensive damage. Coolers and freezers lost power and the food rotted in the gulf coast heat. In Brennan's their 36000 bottle wine cellar may be have to be completely written off.

There is good news, however. The Court of Two Sisters (one of my favorites) reopened on Nov. 29th. Pat O'Brien's is also open and Cafe du Monde's website says that they were opening again on Oct. 19th. Embers Steak House reports that they had little damage and reopened in Oct as well.

More on Tookie

Kim du Toit has a link to a post by from the grandstand on his new blog. He recommends it as the best essay he's ever read on the topic of the death penalty, redemption and reformation. Here is the link to the grandstand post. I tend to agree.

Tookie may be redeemed. He may have placed his trust in the Lord Jesus for forgiveness from his sins and a place in heaven may, in fact, be waiting for him. However, this is irrelevant to the issue of whether he should be put to death for his crimes. All that matters to the issue of his execution is his guilt and whether what he did merits death. He is guilty and if multiple cold blooded murders are not worthy of the death penalty then nothing is.

Kim du Toit

For those of you who may not know it yet veteran blogger, gun nut and all round voice of sanity Kim du Toit is back with a new blog. He says that he's going to be a kinder and gentler Kim this time around (good luck with that). Go over and check his new site out.

Ann's Latest

Ann Coulter's latest is up at her website. Go take a look. Here's a sample:

I don't know what Republicans imagine they're getting out of all this love they keep throwing at Democrats. I've never heard a single liberal preface attacks on Oliver North with a recitation of North's magnificent service as a Marine. And unlike Murtha, who refuses to release his medical records showing he was entitled to his two Purple Hearts, we know what North did. (These Democrat military veterans are hardly shrinking violets when it comes to citing their medals, but they get awfully squeamish when pressed for details.)

Tookie Williams RIP (we hope)

FrontPageMag has an excellent piece by Ben Johnson today called Let Tookie Williams Die. Here's the first paragraph:

TOOKIE WILLIAMS WROTE JUVENILE LITERATURE SO INSPIRING, IT’S A PITY HIS VICTIMS NEVER GOT TO READ IT TO THEIR CHILDREN. Last night, the California State Supreme Court refused to grant a stay of execution to convicted murderer and co-founder of the deadly street gang the Crips, Stanley “Tookie” Williams Sr. Short of a governor’s pardon, Tookie will (finally) die by lethal injection in San Quentin on December 13 for the brutal murder of four people in 1979. A group of Hollywood’s limousine “liberals,” radical leftists, and Farrakhanites now urge Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (whom they otherwise despise) to grant clemency – and he has granted them a private hearing next week to discuss the matter. We wish he’d instead offer them front row seats to the blessed event.

Arnold is a poor politician who has just had his head handed to him with the defeat of the four referenda which he was pushing (all of them good ideas, BTY). He likes being governor and wants to be reelected. He knows that caving in to the Hollywood Left [spit] would buy him a few days of good press. Readers in CA would do well to call the governor's mansion and remind Arnold that letting a vicious murdering scumbag savage like Tookie go on drawing breath while his victims lie in their graves and their families continue to grieve would not help him with the folks who's support he needs, the average voter.